Autism And The Education System
What is Autism?
Education is a key part of every childs life but too many children with autism in England are not getting the education and support they need. Whilst there are specialist schools available, 71% of children with autism attend mainstream schools. Research has shown that mainstream schools are frequently neither fully educated nor equipped to deal with the needs of an autistic child and give them the necessary support. This is particularly alarming as such a high proportion of children with autism do attend mainstream schools, suggesting a large number of autistic children are not getting the educational experience they deserve. What Are The Current Regulations In The UkThere are currently no regulations in place to ensure teachers in mainstream schools have qualifications and experience in teaching autistic children. We contacted The Department of Education who could not give us any information in this area. We too contacted The Institute of Education at the University of London, who informed us that their teaching courses do not provide any training in teaching special needs children. In order to have experience in teaching special needs children, teachers would have to go on to do a Masters degree in Special Needs. Currently, the only regulation in place in the UK in mainstream schools is that every school must have a designated SENCO who will communicate the needs of the student to the relevant staff. Dan Leighton, speaking on behalf of the National Autistic Society highlighted the issues: The problem is there is no initial teacher training in relation to teaching children with autism – this is not directly regulated by the Department of Education. Leighton went on to say, Access to a specialist teacher is patchy, with relatively few local authorities providing autism advisory teachers for schools. It is the responsibility of the SENCOs and head teachers to ensure that staff have access to adequate training and expertise. This highlights the lack of structure in the education given to autistic children – some head teachers and SENCOs may be more proactive than others. Repetitive And Restrictive Behaviour
Via https://autismtalkclub.weebly.com/blog/what-is-autism-national-autistic-society
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